Someone please tell me something: Just where did 2008 go? How can 365 days have flown by so quickly? It seems like only yesterday I was trying to remember to write 2008 on the checks that I write to pay my mortgage, and already I am having to prepare myself to remember to write 2009 on those checks.
Of course 2008 being an eventful year in the Galloway family, I can see how the days and weeks managed to sneak past us unaware. In that year we had a grandchild learn to smile, sit up, coo, crawl, get new teeth and walk. We had a daughter get involved in an auto accident, not her fault. Thankfully no injuries, the car was repaired, but sheesh four wrecks in our family in three years? And we didn’t cause any of them?
I had major surgery, along with another of my daughters. My son moved to a new city even further away from us then before. We gained another new addition to the feline category of our family. One daughter is engaged and is preparing for her new life away from mom and dad in just a few short weeks. And those are just the big events.
To say my life is full is an understatement, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I look at the family that I thought was shrinking as my children grew up, and discovered that instead it is growing. The ones entering our family circle are sometimes taken aback by this group of opinionated, boisterous A+ personalities, but for some reason they stick around, or we suck them into our vortex. Either way I am delighted by every person I can call family, whether it is official or not.
Every so often I wish I could just stop time so I could cherish those special moments. You know the ones. Like the day my daughter Ashley showed me her engagement ring, or my son called me excited about his new job, or when I woke up after surgery and my husband was holding my hand just as I needed him to, or the time my granddaughter took her first steps. If there was a way I could just stay there and savor the emotions I felt, or the milestone that had just been achieved, I would. But if I did that, then I would also miss what is coming up next.
As much as I relish the memories of 2008, I also look forward to 2009. What new adventures await us? How will my family grow and develop as human beings? What challenges and obstacles will be placed before us to overcome? How many blessings will I be able to count next year? Will they be as expansive as this year? Boy I hope so.
I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to next year. Things may get tough for us, but we’ve been in tough spots before. Whatever happens, good, bad or ugly, I look forward to the ride. A character from a favorite old movie of mine once said. “Live! Life’s a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!†I will heed her advice and plan on enjoying every bit of life, even the parts with brussels sprouts in it.
Who knows, maybe next year someone will finally invent the perfect robot that does all those chores around the house that I hate, like cleaning the toilet. And just before it becomes self aware and goes on its quest to destroy humanity, I will finally have that perfectly clean home and a prepared dinner that would make Rachel Ray green with envy. Hey, it could happen.
Happy New Year everyone.
Sylvie Galloway is a Spartanburg-based writer and blogger. You can read more of her work at Sylvie is a blogger.
Sylvie Galloway
mom, hairdresser, writer, who is trying to stay one step ahead of marauding dust bunnies.
